52 potential victims of trafficking and slavery reported in NI

Over 50 people were trafficked to Northern Ireland last year, new figures from the National Crime Agency show.

52 victims were reported in 2018 - which included 17 minors.

Modern slavery and human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal industries and one of the biggest human rights crises today, United Nations and government officials said.

In Northern Ireland - 14 people were trafficked in for sexual exploitation, while 17 victims were exploited for forced labour.

Across the UK, the number of potential victims of trafficking and modern slavery reported to the authorities has risen by more than 80 per cent in two years.

The National Referral Mechanism end of year summary shows that in 2018 6993 potential victims were referred into the system, up from 5142 in 2017, and 3804 in 2016.

Potential victims from 130 different countries were identified, and for the second consecutive year British citizens made up the largest nationality (1,625), with Albanians (947) and Vietnamese (702) second and third.

The number of British citizens reported was almost double the number from 2017, while the numbers of minors referred increased by 48 per cent. Both increases were driven by the numbers referred for labour exploitation, which includes those exploited for criminal purposes by ‘County Lines’ gangs.

Overall those referred in the labour exploitation category made up more than half of the total number.

NCA Deputy Director Roy McComb said:

“The increase is undoubtedly the result of greater awareness, understanding and reporting of modern slavery and that is something to be welcomed.

“However, the more we look the more we find, and it is likely these figures represent only a snapshot of the true scale of slavery and trafficking in the UK.

“Of particular concern is the increase in referrals made for ‘county lines’ type exploitation. These are often vulnerable individuals – often children - who are exploited by criminal gangs for the purposes of drug trafficking.

“Our understanding of the threat is much greater than it was a few years ago, and modern slavery remains a high priority for law enforcement, with around 1,500 criminal investigations currently live in the UK.

“But we cannot stop modern slavery alone, we need support and assistance from across the public and private sectors, NGOs and most of all the public themselves."